Prosecutors on Thursday summoned Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) executive vice president York Lai (賴明佑) for questioning in connection with his role in allegedly granting NT$5 billion (US$158 million) of questionable loans to Taipei-based Tingsing Trading Co (鼎興貿易).
Lai was released on NT$5 million bail yesterday morning.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office and the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau raided a number of locations on Thursday and brought in 10 people for questioning after uncovering possible irregularities in the credit checks and the approval process for the loans.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Tingsing owner Ho Tsung-ying (何宗英) and head accountant Chiang Mei-yu (江美玉) have been detained in judicial custody as prosecutors investigate possible charges of financial fraud and forgery, violations of the Banking Act (銀行法).
Prosecutors were looking to clarify the dealings of Ho and Chiang with Hua Nan Commercial Bank and other financial firms after they allegedly secured loans after the normal procedural checks on collateral and other guarantees were bypassed.
Prosecutors said that Tingsing produced fraudulent receipts, transaction records and other forged documents to obtain NT$5 billion in loans from 13 banks and eight leasing companies, including Hua Nan Commercial Bank, First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) and Industrial Bank of Taiwan Leasing Co (台灣工銀租賃).
Over the past few days prosecutors learned that Ho had in-law relationships with top executives of Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Bank SinoPac and other financial firms, and they suspect that Ho used those relationships to bypass the normal loan approval procedures.
Tingsing overextended itself and was unable to repay the loans. Earlier this year the banks and leasing firms suspected there could be a problem when the company’s checks began to bounce.
In raids on the companies in July this year, investigators uncovered fake documents and fraudulent transaction records, along with forged seals of hospitals and dental clinics.
Chiang had learned of the raids beforehand and left the nation on a flight to Australia, where she had stayed for three months before returning to Taiwan earlier this week.
Prosecutors were waiting for her with an arrest warrant, since she had been listed as a wanted fugitive. They apprehended her at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday and she was taken in for questioning and later detained in judicial custody.
Prosecutors have listed Ho and Chiang as suspects in the case, alleging that they forged contracts, purchasing orders and receipts to produce fraudulent transaction records between Tingsing’s subsidiary companies and hospitals, dental clinics and other firms, which were used to obtain the loans in question.
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